News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-07-21
THE WATCHMANS STORY

Glow long have been a bank wotcT
man.: repeated Daniel McShanc as h
took the pipe from his mouth and sIowl
DIew the smoke away well, sir. w
put IN o'eF thirty years at it. E"
now" --i'1e 'ii''" loi'
"Forty-one, Sit, and began the busi
ness when was ten years old"
nat was tender age, and Their
must be story connected with your de
but w
Right you are, sir, and if YOU hav
nall an hour to spare I'll tell YOU tn
yarn Nhcl l was kid of eight, m,
1ather was made night Waterman of thu
ola Traders Bank of PHILADELPHIA
everything was very primitive then, a.
you may remember There were baG
men about, but there was no need OF
burg ar-proof safes and time locks to cir
cumVent them. Banks were then run
about the same as stores The Traders
opened SIX IN the morning and closed at
nve IN the afternoon, and he last official
dld not leave until seven, at which time
my father vent on duty Hs was on
iiom tlla6 LOu- until seven in the morn
ing, but was not supposed to be awake
all the me He had cot bed in the
ONCE, and man-v night he slept all night
without once >'ing his eyes although
ne was supposed to sleep 50 lightly that
every noise would az ouse him. He was
provided with club and a shotgun, and
there was no fear of his honesty or
courage
TIEsgs we, MT on very quietly for "a cou-
PIE OF years and 1 was then employed as
p sort Of meSsenA T.sr boy by restaurant
man wi1o kept bis place open all night.
Il a drunken mara asme IN. which was
nightly occurrence, a n loa1er sought to
jump his BILL. which was often the case,
Fmade run of two b locks TO the police
station for an officer. IN TINS way, ana
~ acting as waiter aez~ one OF the tables,
L earned s. small weekly salary, ana IN
the bargain it was agreed that should
carry my father a lunch e |ery hlght at
midnight. This consisted OF pan OF
hot coffee, a sandwich ssiG'a , lece OF PIE.
l was always off at the strele o *, took
q walk of two squares, aIT5e faA her was
generally at the door waitingfoTr me.
''You will readily see, sir, that II e CIR
cumstances furnished sharp H,aVa the
occasion to do a big stroke of woak,, = 'ut
1t Was wv NCdIS Dt1OIC lllCN NClC hSN'lA
advantage of. Then couple of crooks
one of whom was from England, set up |
the racket. For several nights ] was
followed fromthe restaurant to the bank |
and back. It was known why made the |
trip, how father received me, and how /
long remained inside. My time IN the !
bank was about a quarter of hour, and |
then father let me out, and, sometimes /
C+apA OF Tho laor and +4h ayi mo
to the corner. Well, as it turned out,
the crooks put it up to get into the bank
as | came ont, or Just after | had goae-
They had timed the officer on that beat,
and at 1880 he was invariably at tins /
other end of his beat, five squares away
The police business at that time was run !;
in haph zard way, and an officer could
sit and sleep in "A doorway or patrol his ]
beat, as he was inclined. 1t was pretty |
good man on that beat, but he was slow |
walker and fond of his pipe. As his
smoking was mostly done at the other
end of his beat, he was certain to take
his tine about coming back.
''Did have my suspicious2 1 did, sir
Begging your pardon for what seems !
like BOOSTING, but l was accounted very
sharp boy at that age, and [ think re-
allied fathers responsibilities more than
he dill himself. l was always giving him
a word of caution, and the very first time
/ was followed | suspicioned that some
evil was intended, and warned him not
to open the door until knocked. The
next night the two men were close at my
heels, and l would not knock until they
had left me. Father agreed with me that
it was best to be cautious, and next day
the old gun was discharged and loaded
anew. l was followed on the third,
fourth, and fifth nights, and it was on
this latter night that the climax came.
As left the restaurant l was joined by
one of the men, who claimed to be a
vessel owner, and who asked me how /
would like to 90 to sea. He gave me
lot of taffy about my being the smartest
boy he ever saw, and wishing to do some
thing for me, and as we arrived at the
bank door he halted with me, and said
he would step in and see father. At the
same time | saw the policeman smoking |
his pipe in the next door.
''Now, sir, l hope you won't lay 1t up
against me for saying that | tumbled to
the racket at once, for that is the truth.
While I swallowed none of the taffy given
me, | no sooner saw the policeman at
that point with his pipe alight than |
twigged him for a pal in disguise l had
been observing things for two years,
mind you, and such an innovation was
not to be passed over. | explained to
the man that it would be against the
rules to admit him, and that he must see
father next day, and after discussing the
matter for a while he walked off. Then
[ gave four knocks on the door, and
father opened it. He was inclined to
rid cule my excitement, but finally came
around to praise my caution. l left at
about the usual time, and was glad to
find the street deserted l returned to
the restaurant at a fast walk, but no
sooner had | reached it than | wheeled
about for the bank. 1t struck me all at
once that the policeman had caught on
to my four knocks, and that after | had
gone the pair might seek to get father to
the door by giving them. l dropped the
d shes and started off on a run, and in
three or four minutes was at the bank.
The door was slightly open, and I jumped
right against it and flung it back. A
light was always left burning, and at a
glance [ saw that father was down and
both men on top of him. They had his
head covered with cloth, and, though
he was calling out, his cries could not
have been heard ten feet.
''The cot was at the left as you en-
tered the bank, and the gun stood at the
foot of it. Just the minute | was inside
/ realized what was going on, and the
first move | made was for the gun. As
seized it and wheeled about one of the
villains, who had been sitting on fathers
legs. reached out a foot and kicked the
door shut. and the other gave father two
blows with a short iron bar, and then
sprang up and faced me. Father straight
ened cut, seeming to have been killed